Writers on Writing is our regular conversation with a writer or industry professional about the writing craft, industry insights, and their own practice. This week, we spoke to Jacqueline Harvey about how she became a children’s author and comes up with ideas for books. We also discussed the best kids’ lit to read to inspire your writing for young people.
What drew you to the genre of children’s books?
From the time I was very young I loved to read. Then when I grew up I became a primary school teacher and was particularly drawn to good read alouds – Roald Dahl was the master as far as I was concerned. After a time I started writing stories and poems and plays for my classes too. I guess it was a natural progression for me to want to write for children as I spent so much time with them. I remember telling my colleagues way back in 1994 (while on a school trip walking through a forest in Japan) that one day I was going to be a children’s book author. It just took me a while to work out how to do it!
What are the most important elements to consider when writing for a younger audience?
Respect your readers’ intelligence and don’t talk down to them. It’s also important to create characters that you fall in love with and stories that have great plots. I don’t write books with the intent of sending a message – if you write a great story there will be themes and ideas that shine through naturally.
Where do you get your ideas for children’s stories?
Watching the world go by, talking to people, reading the newspaper, random things that pop into my head, dreams, travelling – I get my ideas from just about anywhere. My most recent series, The Girl and the Ghost was inspired by meeting a prince in a bookshop in Singapore and signing a book for him. It was quite the most surreal moment of my life!
Do you read children’s books for inspiration? What are some of your all-time favourite publications?
Not when I’m working on a book of my own – there’s always that worry you might inadvertently use an idea from someone else. That said, I go through bursts where I read a lot of children’s books to see what’s out there, what’s new and also go back and read old favourites. Some of the books I have adored include Playing Beatie Bow, Heidi, Black Beauty and Seven Little Australians.
What are some of your favourite Australia children’s authors right now?
There are so many wonderful Aussie authors for kids. I am fortunate to be friends with many of these incredible talented people. R.A. Spratt and I have a podcast together called Real Stories with Random Writers where we chat with lots of terrific authors and illustrators and they get to tell us hilarious stories from their lives.
A.L Tait is writing fabulous crime, as are Amy Doak and Tristan Bancks. Sally Rippin is wonderful, particularly for the younger readers and Belinda Murrell’s stories are terrific. R.A Spratt is very funny and Kate and Jol Temple are doing great things too. I could go on but there’s not enough space on the page!
After a successful twenty-year career in education, Jacqueline Harvey is now one of Australia’s most popular authors for children. She has written over 60 books including the bestselling Alice-Miranda, Clementine Rose, Kensy and Max and Willa and Woof series, which have received numerous short-listings and awards and are published internationally. Her picture book The Sound of the Sea was a CBCA Honour Book in 2006.
She has recently released several new picture books including Kevin the Sheep (the first in a series), The Daring Tale of Glora the Great and That Cat which are all illustrated by one of her former students, Kate Isobel Scott. A highly sought after speaker, she has delivered thousands of talks for children and adults around the world.
With a reputation for creating books that are filled with adventure, mystery, humour and heart, Jacqueline is currently working on several exciting new projects. She has narrated over twenty audio books and her Alice-Miranda series has been made into two animated feature films now available on STAN and Amazon Prime.
Join Jacqueline Harvey for her course, Online: Writing Children’s Books, Monday 29 September to Friday 7 November 2025, online.
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